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Watch my speech at Fresno Pacific University’s Evidence 2014 conference. I explain the Equal Rights Argument and the three different ways you can make a positive case for fetal personhood: Imago Dei, the Rational Nature Argument, and Don Marquis’ Future of Value Argument. This includes content I’ve never taught publicly before!

I was asked to give an apologetics speech at the Students for Life of America 2014 West Coast National Conference. I was given a title, “I’m Pro-Life, But…” that I was allowed to do anything I wanted with, so I chose to respond to these four common statements and questions:

“I’m pro-life, but people tell me I come across like a jerk. What can I do about that?”

“I’m pro-life, but I don’t know how to convince people that abortion is wrong.”

A politician asked me for a sound bite, so I combined Steve Wagner’s 10-second pro-life apologist and the Equal Rights Argument to create a summary of the pro-life position. I almost didn’t publish this because it’s so short and not terribly original, but lots of people found it practically beneficial.

One of my personal favorite posts of the year and a story that I tell in every speech about relational evangelism. This post also inadvertently got me connected with Jim Henderson who then introduced me to Dale and Jonalyn Fincher, two kindred spirits who I quickly formed a strong friendship with.

I probably owe the view count on this article to the fact that Penn Jillette tweeted it, but I still enjoyed writing this piece about a famous video Penn made about evangelism as well as a less-known statement Penn made about loving the people he disagrees with on his podcast.

Frankly, it wasn’t even statistically close. This article about a philosophical argument that I’ve found to be incredibly helpful in the field went viral. I’m still planning on follow-up posts responding to common pro-choice counter-arguments, but I’m taking the time to make sure I do it right, and there are a few possible directions I could take. Stay tuned for more work developing this argument and stories of using it on campus in 2014.

That’s the list! Thanks again for following my blog in its first year, and I’m truly humbled by the gracious feedback I’ve received from most of you.

For the rest of you, I’m looking forward to more open-minded dialogue about the philosophical issues surrounding abortion in the months to come. :)

I’ve recently become friends with Tim Thiesen, the President of the Fresno County Republican Assembly. He attended a function that I spoke at and we exchanged ideas and then he had me on his TV show.

Last week he asked me to give him a 30-second sound bite that he can use and give to candidates that would explain the basic pro-life position. Below is what I sent him, a combination of Steve Wagner’s 10-second pro-life apologist and the Equal Rights Argument.

I am pro-life because we know the unborn are alive, because they’re growing. We know the unborn are human because they have human parents, and I think human beings like me and you are valuable.

In fact, I think all human beings have an equal right to live, because they all have something special in common: they’re human. That’s why racism and sexism are wrong. Racism is wrong because it focuses on a surface difference that doesn’t morally matter and ignores the thing we all have in common, which is the thing that does morally matter: that we’re human.

And because the unborn are clearly human, they should be given an equal right to life as well.

I spoke at both days of the Central California Diocesan Congress last weekend, and had a booth between sessions. The best moment at the booth was when I met the guy in this picture:

“Ethan” recognized me and said, “Hey, I talked to you at Fresno State this year!” I recognized his face, smiled and shook his hand. Then Ethan told me that he was pro-choice until that day at Fresno State, but he became pro-life in the days following our conversation.

I asked him, “What was it that changed your mind?”

He responded, “It was because of what you said about all humans being equal.”

As I’ve said before, this is the most undervalued argument in the pro-life movement. I know philosophers, particularly J.P. Moreland and Christopher Kaczor, have been making it for years. I think we should be making it more often at the advocate level.

I have more posts to do in the future that respond to common objections. They’re in the works!

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We spent years carefully testing arguments against abortion in thousands of conversations all over the country. We have learned which arguments are the most persuasive to today’s pro-choice advocates. We have learned how to communicate them in ways that they find compelling.

Josh has publicly debated leaders from Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Georgians for Choice, and one of the leading abortion facilities in Atlanta.

He has been happily married to his wife Hannah for ten years. They have three sons, Noah, William, and Eli. They live near Charlotte, North Carolina.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

This blog is focused on helping pro-life people be “more persuasive and less weird” when they communicate with pro-choice people. We also write about relational apologetics, because we believe that some pro-choice people will not change their mind after a Facebook debate or a conversation on a college campus; they’ll only change their mind because their friend persuaded them.

If you are pro-life and want practical tips for having effective dialogues with pro-choice people, this blog is for you. If you’re pro-choice and you want to explore pro-life ideas without being called names or having your arguments simplified, you will enjoy this blog, as many other pro-choice people do. Check out our top posts >>

SPEAKING

Josh Brahm speaks on topics related to helping pro-life people have better conversations with pro-choice people. These talks include responding to specific pro-choice arguments as well as talks on relational apologetics. Check his availability here >>